Leader Yanukovych's sick leave fuels speculation

Leader Yanukovych's sick leave fuels speculation

1of5FILE - In this Thursday, Dec. 19, 2013 file photo Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych speaks during a press conference in Kiev, Ukraine. Ukraine's embattled president Viktor Yanukovych is taking sick leave on Thursday, Jan. 30, 2014, as the country's political crisis continues without signs of resolution. A statement on the presidential website Thursday said Yanukovych has an acute respiratory illness and high fever. There was no indication of how long he might be on leave or whether he would be able to do any work. (AP Photo/Mykhailo Markiv, Pool)Photo: Mykhailo Markiv, POOL

3of5An opposition supporter looks at barricade in central Kiev, Ukraine, Thursday, Jan. 30, 2014. Ukraine's embattled President Viktor Yanukovych is taking sick leave, his office announced Thursday, leaving it unclear how involved he may be in efforts to resolve the country's political crisis in which protesters are calling for his resignation. (AP Photo/Sergei Chuzavkov)Photo: Sergei Chuzavkov, STF

4of5Protesters warm themselves near a fire at a barricade in central Kiev, Ukraine, Thursday, Jan. 30, 2014. Ukraine's embattled President Viktor Yanukovych is taking sick leave, his office announced Thursday, leaving it unclear how involved he may be in efforts to resolve the country's political crisis in which protesters are calling for his resignation. (AP Photo/Sergei Chuzavkov)Photo: Sergei Chuzavkov, STF

5of5A protester armed with a metal stick stands next to a burning tire on a barricade in central Kiev, Ukraine, Thursday, Jan. 30, 2014. Ukraine's embattled President Viktor Yanukovych is taking sick leave, his office announced Thursday, leaving it unclear how involved he may be in efforts to resolve the country's political crisis in which protesters are calling for his resignation. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)Photo: Darko Bandic, STF

KIEV, Ukraine - Amid the deepest turmoil since the Orange Revolution, President Viktor Yanukovych's announcement Thursday that he was taking indefinite sick leave prompted a guessing game among Ukrainians about what was happening to their country.

Debate raged about whether he was ill or leaving the limelight in preparation for something, possibly cracking down or stepping down.

Yanukovych has faced two months of major protests that sometimes paralyze central Kiev and have spread to other cities.

The protests started after he backed out of a long-awaited agreement to deepen ties with the European Union in favor of Russia, but quickly came to encompass a wide array of discontent over corruption, heavy-handed police and dubious courts.

The official line is that Yanukovych, 63, has an acute respiratory illness.

But the opposition isn't buying it. Some say he is looking for an excuse to avoid further discussions with opposition leaders, which have done nothing to resolve the tensions.

Vitali Klitschko, a leading opposition figure, has a more ominous theory - the president could be pretending to take himself out of action in preparation for imposing a state of emergency.

That has been a persistent worry of the opposition since violent clashes two weeks ago killed three protesters.

"I remember from the Soviet Union it's a bad sign - a bad sign because always if some Soviet Union leaders have to make an unpopular decision, they go to the hospital," Klitschko said.

Yanukovych's meda office says the president is still in charge of the country, but there was no indication of how long he might be on leave or how much work he would be able to do.

He isn't known to have serious health problems, although his office says he has taken sick leave twice before.